This Spurs miracle took time and a lot of Parker

San Antonio Spurs' Tony Parker sits on the court after being hit by Memphis Grizzlies' Marc Gasol during second half action Game 4 of the 2013 Western Conference finals as Spurs owner Peter Holt and his son Peter J. Holt look on Monday May 27, 2013 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tenn. The Spurs won 93-86.

San Antonio Spurs' Tony Parker sits on the court after being hit by...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — This Memorial Day Miracle needed six years.

This one needed a 37-year-old man to get younger, and a risky draft-day trade in 2011 to make the team younger.

This one needed Manu Ginobili's tendons and ligaments to stay in place. While he struggled Monday, are there any guarantees the Spurs would be here if not for his Game 1 shot vs. Golden State?

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When the evening was over, George Gervin handed the Western Conference trophy to Peter Holt, and the team stood behind them in their new caps. The feeling hadn't been the same since the year of the original Memorial Day Miracle, in 1999.

After Sean Elliott's shot changed the tenor of the Western Conference finals, the Spurs closed out with another sweep, this time in Portland. That day, David Robinson slipped on his own cap announcing the Spurs had won a conference title for the first time. After so many years of disappointments, after hearing so long what he couldn't do, Robinson went to the podium to address this new world.

Though he has already won four titles, didn't it feel that way this time for Tim Duncan?

Duncan smiled broadly. “I can agree with that,” he said.

He said it seemed like it had “been forever,” and at times another Finals appearance must have seemed out of reach. Two years ago, against these same Grizzlies, he looked like he was at the end.

But he lost weight, got stronger and found chemistry with new teammates. Imagine this: Duncan has now played with 119 different Spurs.

Two of them have been a constant through four of these conference championships. And Monday night, as they celebrated, Duncan hugged Ginobili in a way that reminded of the title years.

But it's Parker who has made this possible, and Duncan understands all of it. “I'm riding his coattails,” Duncan said, when it was always the opposite.

Something else Duncan said was significant, too. “Every year, he gets better and better and better,” he said.

With Parker, much improvement shouldn't have been required. The last time the Spurs were in the Finals, after all, Parker was the MVP.

But there were steps to be taken and hiccups along the way. There were times when the Spurs wondered about him, and they considered trading him. Over these past two years, however, he took the final steps, and Monday outlined all of it.

Then, Parker went where he wanted, and when the Spurs needed him to. He had a sense of control, and a toughness made for the big moment.

The blow he took from Marc Gasol summed that up. Then, Parker missed, which he didn't do much this night, and Gasol accidentally followed through and struck him in the face. He collapsed at the feet of Holt, sitting in the front row, and Gasol understood how hard the contact had been. He stayed behind when players rarely do this.

As for the Spain-France rivalry that bubbled up last summer at the Olympics: This is why the French never had a problem with Gasol.

Parker went to the locker room and returned to play as he didn't in earlier years. He was clutch and physical and determined. He followed a jumper with the clinching free throws.

He now had the full package. And if that's not a miracle, exactly, it has been an unusual progression that not many NBA players make.

Combined with Duncan getting younger, and with Kawhi Leonard making the roster younger, and with Ginobili holding up, how special was this?

“We're going to the championship!” Holt screamed for the cameras, and it felt like 1999 all over again.